--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It seems so ridiculous to me,' he said…" description: "\"“It seems so ridiculous to me,' he said, 'that a person should be expected to lock themselves into a suit of clothes. I mean like the suit of clothes o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f07/alice-munro-1231_given-a-chance_it-seems-so-ridiculous-to-me-he-said-tha_2505401.jpg" --- # It seems so ridiculous to me,' he said, 'that a person… ![“It seems so ridiculous to me,' he said, 'that a person should be expected to lock themselves into a suit of clothes. I mean like the suit of clothes of an engineer or a doctor or a geologist and then the skin grows over it, over the clothes, I mean, and that person can't ever get them off. When we…” quote by Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f07/alice-munro-1231_given-a-chance_it-seems-so-ridiculous-to-me-he-said-tha_2505401.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f07/alice-munro-1231_given-a-chance_it-seems-so-ridiculous-to-me-he-said-tha_2505401.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f07/alice-munro-1231_given-a-chance_it-seems-so-ridiculous-to-me-he-said-tha_2505401.jpg) > ““It seems so ridiculous to me,' he said, 'that a person should be expected to lock themselves into a suit of clothes. I mean like the suit of clothes of an engineer or a doctor or a geologist and then the skin grows over it, over the clothes, I mean, and that person can't ever get them off. When we are given a chance to explore the whole world of inner and outer reality and to live in a way that takes in the spiritual and the physical and the whole range of the beautiful and the terrible available to mankind, that is pain as well as joy and turmoil. This way of expressing myself may seem overblown to you, but one thing I have learned to give up is intellectual pridefulness...”” [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator critiques rigid professional identities, urging integration of spiritual and physical experiences, and warns against intellectual pride **In simple terms:** Don’t let roles trap you; embrace whole humanity Key Takeaway Embrace holistic living Themes identity spirituality pride Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - Career counseling - personal development workshops - mindfulness retreats - creative expression sessions Key Concepts Self‑realization humility inner exploration Questions to Reflect On - How can you blend professional identity with personal growth? - What does letting go of intellectual pride feel like? A Different Perspective May be seen as abstract, hard to apply directly ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Expressing Myself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expressing-myself/) [Given a chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/given-a-chance/) [Whole world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole-world/) ## Related quotes > [“It is another of the miraculous things about mankind that there is no pain nor passion that does not radiate to the ends of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/it-is-another-of-the-miraculous-things-about-mankind-that-there-is-no/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [Clothes mean nothing until someone lives in them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-jacobs/clothes-mean-nothing-until-someone-lives-in-them/) [Marc Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-jacobs/) > [For me, clothes mean self-expression. You need to have an audience and connect with people. Fashion is shared. It connects people. And we share…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-dello-russo/for-me-clothes-mean-self-expression-you-need-to-have-an-audience-and/) [Anna Dello Russo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-dello-russo/) > [The clothes in themselves are empty. But what they throw off and what clothes mean as signifiers is incredibly interesting - to see what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-gordon/the-clothes-in-themselves-are-empty-but-what-they-throw-off-and-what/) [Kim Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-gordon/) > [In the fashion world, you have to make clothes to sell. You have to make clothes for the press. You have to make clothes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giorgio-armani/in-the-fashion-world-you-have-to-make-clothes-to-sell-you-have-to/) [Giorgio Armani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giorgio-armani/) > [British people still wear clothes. By clothes I mean actual clothes: jackets and shirts and ties and suits. The spirit of Beau Brummell is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-ford/british-people-still-wear-clothes-by-clothes-i-mean-actual-clothes/) [Tom Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-ford/) > [“Beneath the current of our existence and within it, there is another current flowing in the opposite direction. In this life we go from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-unamuno/beneath-the-current-of-our-existence-and-within-it-there-is-another/) [Miguel de Unamuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-unamuno/) > [I'm a man for whom the outside world is an inner Reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/i-m-a-man-for-whom-the-outside-world-is-an-inner-reality/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“How you think and create your inner world that you gonna become in your outer world. 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That was my world, my inner world,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalia-makarova/all-ballet-all-reading-all-music-that-was-my-world-my-inner-world/) [Natalia Makarova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalia-makarova/) ## More by Alice Munro > [William Maxwell's my favorite North American writer, I think. And an Irish writer who used to write for 'The New Yorker' called Maeve Brennan,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/william-maxwell-s-my-favorite-north-american-writer-i-think-and-an/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Not very long ago I was driving with my husband on the back roads of Grey County, which is to the north and east…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/not-very-long-ago-i-was-driving-with-my-husband-on-the-back-roads-of/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Her silent singing wrapped around the story she was telling herself, which she extended further every night on the deck. 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It's nothing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/the-thing-is-to-be-happy-no-matter-what-just-try-that-you-can-it-gets/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [What she wants to do if she can get the time to do it, is not so much to live in the past as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/what-she-wants-to-do-if-she-can-get-the-time-to-do-it-is-not-so-much/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Children Katy's age had no problem with monotony. In fact they embraced it, diving into it and wrapping the familiar words round their tongues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/children-katy-s-age-had-no-problem-with-monotony-in-fact-they/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“This is what happens. You put it away for a little while, and now and again you look in the closet for something else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/this-is-what-happens-you-put-it-away-for-a-little-while-and-now-and/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [She sits in her usual ample armchair, with piles of books and unopened magazines around her. She sips cautiously from the mug of weak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/she-sits-in-her-usual-ample-armchair-with-piles-of-books-and-unopened/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [The images, the language, of pornography, and romance are alike; monotonous and mechanically seductive, quickly leading to despair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/the-images-the-language-of-pornography-and-romance-are-alike/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [I was a grade B housewife, maybe a B minus. But when I got time to write, I would be unable to finish a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/i-was-a-grade-b-housewife-maybe-a-b-minus-but-when-i-got-time-to/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [She would live now, not read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/she-would-live-now-not-read/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“You would think as you get older your mind would fill up with what they call the spiritual side of things, but mine just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/you-would-think-as-you-get-older-your-mind-would-fill-up-with-what/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [Peoples lives, in Jubilee as elsewhere, were dull, simple, amazing, unfathomable-deep caves paved with kitchen linoleum. . . . What I wanted \[to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/peoples-lives-in-jubilee-as-elsewhere-were-dull-simple-amazing/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) [Explore all 261 Alice Munro quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) ## More Given a chance quotes > [I'm looking forward to go bald for a film but nothing has been offered to me yet. Given a chance I'd take a pair…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akshara-haasan/i-m-looking-forward-to-go-bald-for-a-film-but-nothing-has-been/) [Akshara Haasan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akshara-haasan/) > [Most people should be given a chance to compete in the Olympic Games.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-the-eagle/most-people-should-be-given-a-chance-to-compete-in-the-olympic-games/) [Eddie the Eagle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-the-eagle/) > [I didnt and I dont have any hesitation in playing mother on screen. 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And until when choice is given a chance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-liccione/nothing-won-t-change-until-the-choice-is-placed-first-and-until-when/) [Anthony Liccione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-liccione/) > [“More proof that Lynn is still meant to continue with the government programme occurred during the winter of 2000, when she was sitting at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-hersha/more-proof-that-lynn-is-still-meant-to-continue-with-the-government/) [Lynn Hersha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-hersha/) > [Given a chance I'm gonna be somebody, If for one dance I'm gonna be somebody, Open the door it's gonna make you love me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kings-of-leon/given-a-chance-i-m-gonna-be-somebody-if-for-one-dance-i-m-gonna-be/) [Kings Of Leon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kings-of-leon/) > [“Warner has collapsed in the corner. 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